The North Carolina Department of Correction said Nichols has returned to Davie County, where he lived at the time of the killings.

A police officer responding to a disturbance found a woman in the street that had been beaten and shot. In the home, the officer found Barfield and Nailing dead. Little died on the way to the hospital.

Police found cocaine and drug paraphernalia in the home.

Investigators arrested Nichols a week later after finding blood in his car.